Reconstructing a general inflationary action
Abstract
If inflation is to be considered in an unbiased way, as possibly originating from one of a wide range of underlying theories, then observations need not be simply applied to reconstructing the inflaton potential, V(\phi), or a specific kinetic term, as in DBI inflation, but rather to reconstruct the inflationary action in its entirety. We discuss the constraints that can be placed on a general single field action from measurements of the primordial scalar and tensor fluctuation power spectra and non-Gaussianities. We also present the flow equation formalism for reconstructing a general inflationary Lagrangian, L(X,\phi), with X={1/2}\partial_\mu\phi\partial^\mu\phi, in a general gauge, that reduces to canonical and DBI inflation in the specific gauge \partial L/\partial X = c_s^{-1}.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0801.0742,
title = {Reconstructing a general inflationary action},
author = {Rachel Bean and Daniel J. H. Chung and Ghazal Geshnizjani},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0801.0742},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
16 pages, 1 figure, References added, typos corrected